dinopediafandomcom-20200222-history
Edmontosaurus
| image = Edmontosaurus whole kwwswf.png|thumb | image_caption = A restoration of Edmontosaurus regalis | image_width = 240px | regnum = Animalia | phylum = Chordata | classis = Sauropsida | clade1 = Dinosauria | ordo = †Ornithischia | subordo = †Ornithopoda | familia = †Hadrosauridae | subfamilia = †Saurolophinae | tribus = †Edmontosaurini | genus = †''Edmontosaurus'' | genus_authority = Lambe, 1917 | type_species = Edmontosaurus regalis | type_species_authority = Lambe, 1917 | subdivision_ranks = Referred species | subdivision = * Edmontosaurus annectens (Marsh, 1892) | synonyms = *''Anatosaurus'' Lull & Wright, 1942 *''Anatotitan'' Chapman & Brett-Surman, 1990 }} Edmontosaurus (ed·mon·to·saur·us) sometimes known as the disputed Anatosaurus'' or ''Anatotitan (referring to the secondary species E. annectens), was a large hadrosaur from the late Cretaceous Period. It lived in North America alongside dinosaurs such as Tyrannosaurus rex, Ornithomimus, Pachycephalosaurus, Struthiomimus ''and ''Triceratops. Edmontosaurus were incredibly large hadrosaurs, one of largest in North America. Although not as large as their Asian counterparts such as Shantungosaurus reached an incredible length of 13 metres (42 feet) and was about 3.5 metres high at the hip. Rearing up on their powerful hind legs they stood higher than 4 meters (13-14 feet) tall. Multiple specimens of Edmontosaurus annectens have been found with preserved skin impressions. Several have been well-publicized, such as the "''Trachodon'' mummy" of the early 20th century, and the specimen nicknamed "Dakota", the latter apparently including remnant organic compounds from the skin. Because of these finds, the scalation of Edmontosaurus annectens is known for most areas of the body. Skin impressions are less well known for E. regalis, but some well-preserved examples have been studied, including one which preserves a soft tissue crest or wattle on the head. It is unknown whether such a crest was present on E. annectens, and whether it was an indicator of sexual dimorphism. Like other hadrosaurids, Edmontosaurus is thought to have been a facultative biped, meaning that it mostly moved on four legs, but could adopt a bipedal stance when needed. It probably went on all fours when standing still or moving slowly, and switched to using the hind legs alone when moving more rapidly. Research conducted by computer modeling in 2007 suggests that Edmontosaurus could run at high speeds, perhaps up to 45 kilometres per hour (28 mph). Further simulations using a subadult specimen estimated as weighing 715 kilograms (1,576 lb) when alive produced a model that could run or hop bipedally, use a trot, pace, or single foot symmetric quadrupedal gait, or move at a gallop. The researchers found to their surprise that the fastest gait was kangaroo-like hopping (maximum simulated speed of 17.3 metres per second (62 km/h; 39 mph)), which they regarded as unlikely based on the size of the animal and lack of hopping footprints in the fossil record, and instead interpreted the result as indicative of an inaccuracy in their simulation. The fastest non-hopping gaits were galloping (maximum simulated speed of 15.7 metres per second (57 km/h; 35 mph)) and running bipedally (maximum simulated speed of 14.0 metres per second (50 km/h; 31 mph)). They found weak support for bipedal running as the most likely option for high-speed movement, but did not rule out high-speed quadrupedal movement. While long thought to have been aquatic or semiaquatic, hadrosaurids were not as well-suited for swimming as other dinosaurs (particularly theropods, who were once thought to have been unable to pursue hadrosaurids into water). Hadrosaurids had slim hands with short fingers, making their forelimbs ineffective for propulsion, and the tail was also not useful for propulsion because of the ossified tendons that increased its rigidity, and the poorly developed attachment points for muscles that would have moved the tail from side to side. The time span and geographic range of Edmontosaurus overlapped with Tyrannosaurus, and an adult specimen of E. annectens on display in the Denver Museum of Nature and Science shows evidence of a theropod bite in the tail. Counting back from the hip, the thirteenth to seventeenth vertebrae have damaged spines consistent with an attack from the right rear of the animal. One spine has a portion sheared away, and the others are kinked; three have apparent tooth puncture marks. The top of the tail was at least 2.9 metres (9.5 ft) high, and the only theropod species known from the same rock formation that was tall enough to make such an attack is T. rex. The bones are partially healed, but the edmontosaur died before the traces of damage were completely obliterated. The damage also shows signs of bone infection. Kenneth Carpenter, who studied the specimen, noted that there also seems to be a healed fracture in the left hip which predated the attack because it was more fully healed. He suggested that the edmontosaur was a target because it may have been limping from this earlier injury. Because it survived the attack, Carpenter suggested that it may have outmaneuvered or outrun its attacker, or that the damage to its tail was incurred by the hadrosaurid using it as a weapon against the tyrannosaur. Another specimen of E. annectens, pertaining to a 7.6 metres (25 ft) long individual from South Dakota, shows evidence of tooth marks from small theropods on its lower jaws. Some of the marks are partially healed. Michael Triebold, informally reporting on the specimen, suggested a scenario where small theropods attacked the throat of the edmontosaur; the animal survived the initial attack but succumbed to its injuries shortly thereafter. Some edmontosaur bone beds were sites of scavenging. Albertosaurus and Saurornitholestes tooth marks are common at one Alberta bone bed, and Daspletosaurus fed on Edmontosaurus and fellow hadrosaurid Saurolophus at another Alberta site. Extensive bone beds are known for Edmontosaurus, and such groupings of hadrosaurids are used to suggest that they were gregarious, living in groups. Three quarries containing Edmontosaurus remains are identified in a 2007 database of fossil bone beds, from Alberta (Horseshoe Canyon Formation), South Dakota (Hell Creek Formation), and Wyoming (Lance Formation). One edmontosaur bone bed, from claystone and mudstone of the Lance Formation in eastern Wyoming, covers more than a square kilometre, although Edmontosaurus bones are most concentrated in a 40 hectares (0.15 sq mi) subsection of this site. It is estimated that disassociated remains pertaining to 10,000 to 25,000 edmontosaurs are present here. Unlike many other hadrosaurids, Edmontosaurus lacked a bony crest. It may have had soft-tissue display structures in the skull, though: the bones around the nasal openings had deep indentations surrounding the openings, and this pair of recesses are postulated to have held inflatable air sacs, perhaps allowing for both visual and auditory signaling. Edmontosaurus may have been dimorphic, with more robust and more lightly built forms, but it has not been established if this is related to sexual dimorphism. Edmontosaurus has been considered a possibly migratory hadrosaurid by some authors. A 2008 review of dinosaur migration studies by Phil R. Bell and Eric Snively proposed that E. regalis was capable of an annual 2,600 kilometres (1,600 mi) round-trip journey, provided it had the requisite metabolism and fat deposition rates. Such a trip would have required speeds of about 2 to 10 kilometres per hour (1 to 6 mph), and could have brought it from Alaska to Alberta. In contrast to Bell and Snively, Anusuya Chinsamy and colleagues concluded from a study of bone microstructure that polar Edmontosaurus overwintered. In popular culture *A hadrosaur skull can be seen among the pile of bones in the Tyrannosaurus rex nest in The Lost World: Jurassic Park. Jurassic Park Legacy members long concluded that it belonged to the genus Anatotitan, which is now classified as Edmontosaurus annectens. It is unknown if Edmontosaurus was on Isla Sorna or was even recreated by InGen before Jurassic World in the Movie canon. **According to the computer game, Tresspasser, Hammond's memoir confirm that in the early progress of Jurassic Park half of the 13 species that originally were bred for the Park failed to adjust to their new ecosystem on, Isla Sorna (Site-B) and once more went extinct. ***Because Tresspasser serves as canonical continuity to the film The Lost World: Jurassic Park, this would confirm that among the 13 original species, the Edmontosaurus was indeed one of them. The cause of its re-extinction is uncertain, but a suggestion is that due to stress of the new environment, new plant sources and the increase in predator population, this is what likely caused its extinction before the events of the film series. *''Edmontosaurus'' made an appearence in Jurassic Fight Club being chased by a pack of Dromaeosaurus. Then after being killed, a Tyrannosaurus came to take the carcass, leaving the tail. **Despite this scenario is meant to be "educational" the Tyrannosaurus is the only theropod from this episode that isn't contemporary to the stage of the Cretaceous of when Dromaeosaurus existed which was about 10 million years earlier than Tyrannosaurus *''Edmontosaurus'' made a few appearances in Giant Screen Films Waking the T. rex: The Story of SUE. *It also made an appearence in the 3rd episode of Planet Dinosaur where a herd was attack by an Alaskan Troodon. *It also appeared in March of the Dinosaurs retitled as The Great Dinosaur Escape, where it follows a juvenile Edmontosaurus called Scar, trying to find the herd after being lost after a pack of Albertosaurus attacked. *A herd of Edmontosaurus also appear in Walking with Dinosaurs: The 3D Movie where they are seen migrating and then stopping at a feeding ground. *''Edmontosaurus'' was one of the dinosaurs confirmed to be in Jurassic World: Evolution, according to the second in-game trailer. It looks almost exactly as the Jurassic World website version, with one difference in the game version, as it has a yellow fleshly crest on its head like in life, although more exaggerated than in life. Oddly enough the developers, Frontier for some replaced the film's Edmontosaurus annectens, which is what the website version seems to be based on instead, with the species, Edmontosaurus regalis. **This was change was likely to avoid any confusion the nomenclature controversy between the two species, as of today paleontologists still debate whether the referred original species is either its own genus or another species of Edmontosaurus itself, as it was namely given upon its discovery. *''Edmontosaurus'' Also appeared in 2 Jurassic Park video games, The Lost World: Jurassic Park Arcade Game & Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis. *''Edmontosaurus'' was seen in Ultimate Guide to T.Rex & Briefly as a carcass in the Beyond T.Rex. *It is also referred to in the sixth episode of Walking with Dinosaurs as Anatotitan. *It referred to as Anatotitan again in When Dinosaurs Roamed America. *It was seen at through the PBS Nova Documentary Arctic Dinosaurs. *A family of Edmontosaurus briefly appear in The Land Before Time IV: Journey Through the Mists, where they are seen resting in a clearing along with a Triceratops family before a Pteranodon family flies past. *It appears on the Jurassic World website and is stated to be in the park, but it is unfortunately never seen in the film. Edmontosaurus also fell back into extinction after the Isla Nublar Incident of 2015. But a skeleton of Edmontosaurus is seen in the Lockwood Manor in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. *It will appear in Saurian under its' old name Anatosaurus. *Edmontosaurus appeared in the ROBLOX game "Era of Terror" before the game was taken down for unknown reasons. Gallery Edmontosaurus/Gallery Category:Dinosaurs of North America Category:Late Cretaceous Category:Cretaceous animals Category:Cretaceous extinctions Category:Hadrosaurs Category:Prehistoric animals of North America Category:Prehistoric reptiles of North America Category:Large Herbivores Category:Herbivores Category:Ornithopods Category:Ornithischia Category:Archosaurs Category:Diapsid Reptiles Category:Reptiles Category:Edmontosaurs Category:Walking with dinosaurs animals Category:Dinosaurs from Hell Creek Category:Planet Dinosaur Creatures Category:When Dinosaurs Roamed America Creatures Category:Primeval Category:Saurian Dinosaurs Category:The Rite of Spring Creatures Category:Dinosaurs (TV Series) Category:Jurassic Park: Builder Creatures Category:Taxa named by Lawrence Lambe Category:Fossil taxa described in 1917 Category:Extinct animals of North America Category:Famous Dinosaurs Category:Herd Animals Category:Animal Armageddon Creatures Category:The Land Before Time Creatures Category:Walking with Dinosaurs: The Movie creatures Category:Prehistoric Kingdom Category:March of the Dinosaurs Creatures Category:Jurassic World: Evolution creatures Category:Jurassic World: Alive Dinosaurs Category:Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis Category:Fantasia Creatures Category:Dinosaurs from Horseshoe Canyon Category:Dinosaurs from Lance Formation Category:Dinosaurs of Canada Category:Mesozoic reptiles Category:Mesozoic animals Category:Mesozoic